MLB continues disrespecting SF Giants in atrocious Power Rankings

The SF Giants won every one of their games last week, and passed the Los Angeles Dodgers in the standings, but MLB seemingly was not paying attention.
MLB continues disrespecting SF Giants in atrocious Power Rankings
MLB continues disrespecting SF Giants in atrocious Power Rankings /
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The official MLB account has released this week’s power rankings and spoiler alert: they’re no good. It’s not unusual for sites to make egregious rankings to just generate engagement. Oftentimes, the rankings are intended to make people irritated enough to comment, only to boost the horrible content even more. But this week's omission of the SF Giants from MLB's top 10 power rankings is glaring enough to note, particularly from the official MLB account.

The Giants, who landed in Los Angeles last Friday on a tear, sporting a four-game win streak including a sweep of the Cardinals in St. Louis, were not considered the favorite for any of their games against the Dodgers. Despite that, they came away with another sweep, scoring a total of 29 runs over three games and taking the number two spot in the National League West squarely from their opponents. 

Many fans were quick to notice that despite the Giants taking all three games, including a comeback victory Friday night that was one for the books, MLB's official Twitter didn't post about the victory once. Instead, in fact, they applauded the Dodgers' starting pitcher for his impressive outing and never followed up.

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So when the power rankings were released Monday morning, after it seemed someone had to pull teeth to get MLB to acknowledge the Giants seven-game win streak on Sunday afternoon, no one was exactly shocked that the Giants hadn't cracked the top 10.

But usually, clickbait isn't so blatantly biased. For one, if the rankings were to go off of pure standings, they'd have to skip the Giants in the eight-spot altogether in order to include the Astros, Dodgers, and Yankees.

League-wide standings as of June 18th, 2023.
League-wide standings as of June 18th, 2023

For another, if the rankings were instead to rely entirely on "hotness," surely the Dodgers, Astros, and Yankees would have to be demoted for their losing streaks? But none of the three budged a spot week over week. And the Reds, the only team with a longer win streak than the SF Giants right now (eight in a row as of Sunday!) should've cracked the top ten, too. But alas, what can you expect from content designed to enrage? Until next week...


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Natasha Welingkar
NATASHA WELINGKAR

Natasha Welingkar (she/her) is a creative marketer, writer, and lifelong Bay Area sports fan. Born to Indian immigrants, she has been obsessed with baseball since infancy, picking up on the sport through her parents' love of the SF Giants and the soothing sounds of Jon Miller on the radio.Natasha received a Bachelor's degree from Cal with a major in cognitive science and minor in journalism. In college, she covered breaking news, national politics, and lifestyle for The Tab’s Berkeley offshoot. She also led the campus’ official creative agency, an organization responsible for campus-wide design education as well as graphic design, photography, and web design work for student organizations.